“Hermione, do you think you’re okay to stand?” Harry asked, while moving over to Ron’s side.
Hermione nodded slightly, while some of the dirt drifted off of her face. Ron lowered his arms and set her down gently, almost as if he had been handling an infant. She steadied herself and kept her stance. As if teaching someone to ride their first broom, Ron held his hand behind her back to make sure she wouldn’t fall backwards. She rubbed her eyes groggily and took a few steps forward.
“Are you going to be okay?” Ron asked cautiously.
“Yeah,” Hermione replied distinctively. She moved her arms and legs, checking for any fractures or breaks. “I’m fine,” she said smiling.
The three of them took a step forward with Hermione slightly behind them. Harry looked for any sign of danger around them, but noticed nothing.
“Let’s go,” Harry whispered, while casting a hand forward. Harry hopped up onto the first step with Ron and Hermione behind him. Two large ominous blue eyes emerged from the step in front of him. It was almost as if the eyes had been looking through a sheet of glass, but in this case, a light covering of earth concealed this interesting creature. Harry jumped backwards as this creature lifted up from the ground. It bared it fangs at Harry, clawing in the air.
“WHAT THE BLOODY HELL IS THIS?” Harry yelled, stepping backwards as the creature stepped toward him.
“It’s a Zorith, Harry!” Hermione called out weakly as Ron jumped in front of her, protecting her from harm.
It’s matted brown fur concealed its pure hatred toward everyone inside. It was a small creature, but with a fowl bite.
“Harry, if he bites you, you’ll die!” Hermione yelled, regaining her strength.
“WELL THAT’S UNEXPECTED!” Harry yelled sarcastically.
Growling pierced through the night sky. Barking proceeded shortly after.
Harry stepped back as the Zorith stepped forward.
Harry.
Harry spun around, wondering where the voice had come from. Forgetting that the creature had looked as if it was preparing to lunge forward, he turned back around to face it.
Harry, I can help you.
“Who a-are you?” Harry asked curiously. His eyes widened and he brandished his wand.
Rachael.
“Rachael . . . Lupin?”
Hermione and Ron looked at Harry peculiarly seeing that he had to be talking to himself.
“Harry?” Ron questioned, noticing the Zorith had been inches away from Harry now.
Hello, Harry.
A second voice struck like thunder.
Olivia, now’s not the time.
“Olivia,” Harry noted to himself. “Your . . . daughter?”
Yes, now stand back.
Harry obeyed her orders and took a step back. The creature finally approached Harry close enough to attack. A white figure protruded from the ground. White hair blew in the wind while pale skin danced vividly. She threw her hands out in front of the Zorith and a pale shield forced it backward. Struggling to break through the shield, the Zorith barked angrily. It started walking in reverse as Rachael forced the creature back to its earthen grave.
Now, Harry!
Harry burst into a run.
“Harry!” Ron yelled, trying his best to catch up with him. The weight of Hermione weighed him down greatly. Muffled breaths sounded in the sudden eerie quiet.
Harry froze on the steps and turned around.
“Rachael?” Harry whispered, now unable to protect himself.
No answer.
“Harry, what happened?” Ron asked, taking his first step onto the stairway.
“I’m ” really not sure. . . .”
Harry looked around wildly, trying to find the hazy white figure that was once known as Rachael.
Ron stepped up to where Harry was.
Childish giggling sounded behind Harry’s head.
Olivia? Harry thought to himself. Looking up the steps, he saw four pairs of yellow eyes on either side of the staircase. Taking a step forward, he watched the eyes with caution, but they never seemed to do anything, just watching. They followed him with every step, almost recording his every move. Ron, Hermione, and Harry all moved up the stone staircase.
“Hermione, do you think you can walk now?” Ron asked, panting.
“I’ll try,” Hermione said groggily, regaining her strength.
A sultry breeze panned across the trio. Harry breathed heavily as they climbed higher and higher into the night sky. Rain drizzled from the blackened sky and stung their browned skin.
Hermione stumbled on her own footing, but managed.
A low hiss emanated from the ground below, sending Hermione into a cautionary stance.
“Hermione, they can’t harm us,” Harry whispered while throwing back his arm, stopping them in their tracks.
“And what is supposed to protect us from them? An invisible wall?” Ron responded smartly.
“I just have a feeling that Voldemort will want us all to himself,” Harry stated.
“Voldemort’s up there?” Ron asked.
“I’m guessing,” Harry finished.
“Harry, then why did the Zorith attempt to kill you?” Hermione asked profoundly.
“It wasn’t going to kill me,” Harry breathed.
“And what makes you come to that conclusion?”
“Again ” a hunch.”
They continued up the ongoing steps. The moon shown through the tears that angels cried for them above.
Yellow eyes sunk back into the surface. They were the same yellow eyes that were watching them just moments before, but when finally nearing the top of the stone stairwell, they felt accomplished, although no where near completed.
“Wait, Harry, wait!” Hermione called out. Taking out her wand, she shot a fluid orange light at a glinting green rock on the side of the stairwell. A piece of Crasilium fell into her palm, “The Iron Stone,” she smiled and held it out to Harry. Brushing her damp hair out of her eyes, she grabbed onto Ron’s hand for safety precautions. A violent wind blew up behind them. They all turned around nervously, but it was only Harry who could see the causes of the wind.
“Rachael, Olivia, why are you here?” Harry asked into the blatant breeze.
“We’re here to help you. I saved you back there, and I plan to do it again,” Rachael replied while she and her daughter hovered past them.
Ron and Hermione had just been standing there, continually watch their friend talk to himself.
“Come on, we need to move,” Harry said to his friends, following the path Rachael and Olivia were making.
Lightning struck overhead and licked the side of the cliff like the flames in a fire.
The trio ran to the stony archway. It trembled in the violent storm. Harry reached in his pocket for the stones. Pulling them out, he noticed that each of the indents in the arch had a symbol to them which seemed to symbol which stone would be placed in them. The first stone he grabbed was the Iron Stone ” in this case, a piece of Crasilium. He placed it near the middle and watched as it glowed silver around the edges and attached itself instantly. He grabbed the second stone, the Fire Stone. He placed it in the far left indent and watched as it glowed orange, and inhered itself to the stone, forming one. He picked out the third stone and found the Dragon Stone. Just before placing this stone into the archway, he remembered back to his talk with Dumbledore. He thought about Sirius, he thought about his parents. He didn’t know what to do.
If I don’t use this stone for the arch, it could create chaos throughout the world . . . but if I use it for my own desire to see my parents again, I could actually see them. I hardly have a memory of them. I need to do what’s right though.
Harry hesitated, but placed the stone in the indentation. The edges glowed brown and meshed with the archway.
Rachael and Olivia hovered beside them. “Faster, Harry. Voldemort could arrive at any moment,” Rachael pleaded quietly.
Harry handed Ron a stone to place in the archway to quicken the time.
“NO!” Rachael yelled, “Only one person can place the stone’s in. If more than one person puts the stones in, it will not create the portal into the other world. Whoever holds all the Stones at one single time becomes the possessor, and Harry was that person.”
Ron handed Harry the stone and slumped his shoulders.
A faint buzz sounded behind them. Black satin flowed in the wind. Vain-stricken skin contrasted his deep red eyes. Crooked teeth formed into a menacing smile as Voldemort landed gently on the grassy cliff.
The three brandished there wands quickly when they discovered who was entering their presence.
“Hello, Potter,” Voldemort sneered. “I see I’ve gotten to your friend.” Voldemort motioned his head at Hermione’s limping form.
Ron gritted his teeth and scrunched up his face in anger. Harry held Ron back and took a step forward.
The moon shined down brightly, Harry’s eyes sparkled with anger.
“Ah, you do have your mother’s eyes, don’t you? Shame she didn’t live long enough to see what a heroic boy she let loose in the world,” Voldemort hissed sarcastically.
“Don’t talk about my mother,” Harry said menacingly.
“Quite a shame, your father died early too. Let’s get to the point ” the Stones?”
“What about them,” Harry questioned angrily.
Voldemort simply held out his hand. “Give it.”
Ron and Hermione took a step forward to Harry’s level as the two ghostly figures ” Rachael and Olivia ” sunk below the earth.
“I’m sorry, but I’m the one in control now. This is my game,” Harry said with a mocking smile.
“Harry Potter, I see you are new to this. I’m not requesting the Stones, I’m demanding them.”
Hermione stealthily pulled out her wand.
“I know enough.”
“Expelliarmus!” Hermione yelled with all her strength.
The spell hit Voldemort square on, but he remained unscathed.
“If it’s a war you’re looking for, then you’ve come to the right place,” Voldemort said monotonously while brandishing his wand. “Stupefy!”
A misty spell shot from his wand, sinking through Hermione and freezing her to the core. She fell onto the cold ground with a thud.
“Hermione!” Ron yelled.
Harry responded by quickly reviving her, “Ennervate!”
Hermione’s pale skin was quickly filled with the lustrous feeling of life. She stood up weakly and brushed the dirt off her back.
“Thanks for that,” Hermione said kindly.
Voldemort held up his wand, “Expellia””
A ghostly hand shot up from the ground, holding on to Voldemort’s scaly leg. He hesitated for a second before noticing he was being held on to.
“Ah . . . Rachael Lupin. I thought I’d see you again.”
Fredrick hovered through the chilled air. Rain fell through his ghostly body like butter. With a blue flask in his ghostly hand, he approached Hogwarts’ Grounds. A menacing smile spread across his face as he was thinking of the vile plans ahead.
Rachael hovered above the ground with her white hair flowing in the wind, ignoring what Voldemort had just said.
“Killing Harry will only make you have more pride, but what you’re doing is making the world slowly die in the grasp of evil. Why do you want to do that? Why do you want to laugh in the faces of death? What fuels your desire to murder?” Rachael questioned, concerned for the lives of even the most evil of evil beings.
“You’re just like your mother . . . always caring too much and getting in way over her head. I’m glad I killed her when I had the chance,” Voldemort hissed, smiling.
Rachael’s concerned face coiled up in anger before she calmed herself down, but this had only been an act. She burst forth in rage and grasped her hands around his throat.
“Fool. You can’t kill me, I’m Voldemort.”
“I think you may have forgotten, you can’t kill me either,” Rachael said while releasing her victim.
“Or so you think,” Voldemort said mysteriously. He brandished his wand and pointed it directly at Rachael Lupin. “Disentivinaytio!” he yelled viciously.
“Mom!” Olivia screamed with transparent tears sliding down her face.
The spell hit Rachael square on, sucking into her body. Her face thinned as her ghostly figure was constricted. Eyes rolled to the back of her head as her ghostly essence swarmed off into white strands which faded out into the night sky. A faint scream was heard which tore through the air. Voldemort smiled as in having done a job well done.
“It’s a new spell I threw together, do you like it? It works on anything, humans, ghosts,
heroes. . . .” His red slits for eyes maneuvered there way over to Harry, glaring him down while he meddled with his wand.
“Disentivinaytio!” Voldemort yelled again, this time aiming for Harry.
“No!” Olivia yelled. She threw herself in front of Harry, taking on the full power of the curse. It sucked into her body and she was clearly in pain. Her facial expression turned from a normal human to that of a dead corpse. Eyes rolled into the back of her head as she faded off into oblivion.
Harry stepped back in shock as Olivia sacrificed herself for Harry’s own future.
“Harry, what’s going on?” Ron yelled, unable to see Rachael and Olivia’s brave sacrifice.
“There gone, I don’t know where, but there just . . . gone. . . .” Harry said in shock.
“Yes, what little things you can do with just a few words and a little wave of your wand,” Voldemort calmly said.
Ron took a step back, away from all the madness. Voldemort noticed his sudden fear which grew with every step he took, pulling Hermione back with him, protecting his pristine love.
“Avada Kedavra!” Voldemort yelled to Ron with his wooden weapon fulfilling his evil deeds.
A green light erupted from the tip of his wand, engorging itself in Ron’s body. He had been standing mere feet from the cliff’s edge when this had happened. His limp body fell over onto the ground. With three-quarters of his body hanging over the edge, gravity had taken over. He propelled into a perilous free fall through the rainy sky. His flaming red hair was blowing violently in the wind as he neared dangerously sharp rocks below.
Hermione ran to the cliff’s edge sobbing.
“NO!” Hermione screamed, tears racking her face. “RON!” She fell on her stomach, reaching for Ron’s body which had been nearing the bottom. Harry rushed over to her side, screaming for Ron as well.
His body crashed violently onto one single piece of Crasilium in the shape of a piece of a stalagmite. It pierced through his chest and was drenched in blood. His body arched elegantly across the razor-sharp rock. His dazed expression was lifeless as his pale face looked up at the two. His face was almost as if in shock, and his eyes were glassed over.
“RON!” Hermione yelled, reaching down for him, unable to move, unable to feel, unable to think. Her love was undying for him, and his now dead form was only fueling her tear-stained face. Her brown hair clung to her cheeks, being held in place by the tears of sorrow that had been shed for her dead boyfriend.
“Ron ” Ron . . . Ron. . . .” Harry whispered, unable to recall what had just happened. His first friend at Hogwarts had just been brutally murdered by his lifelong enemy. “You,” he hissed, turning to face Voldemort. “You murderer!” Harry screamed. Harry sprinted several meters to confront Voldemort once and for all, his rage fueling his compassion of killing this horrid man.
Voldemort reacted by lifting up his scaly hands in the air, chanting a short phrase. The sky turned a misty green, raining down on the Harry and Hermione, dampening their lives.
Harry’s eyes rolled into the back of his head, falling onto the ground in a puddle of damp grass. Hermione turned around to notice what Voldemort had just done to her best friend.
“No, no, not you, too. Not both of you, I can’t be alone, no!” Hermione screamed, hardly being able to stand up.
She looked up into the green sky with tears streaming down her face. “Why am ” Why am I not effected?” Hermione questioned wiping her eyes, yet still unable to stop the flow of tears. “Oh, Merlin. This can’t be happening.” Hermione recalled what she had dreamed of all those nights ago in the Hospital. It had been the exact same scene. Voldemort stood menacingly by Harry’s side. Harry was lying lifeless on the ground as his murderer grasped onto his collar.
He smiled threateningly and brandished his wand Hermione’s way.
“Why aren’t you dead. . . ?” he asked, confused.
“I ” I don’t know,” she sniffed and wiped up her tears again.
“Well there’s always a simple thing to make it happen,” he shouted cruelly, walking her way with his wand still brandished her way.
“Oh, Lord. Please, God, no.” She fell onto the ground in a puddle of her tears, awaiting what Voldemort had in store for her.
***
Fredrick approached the front entrance of Hogwarts Castle with bottled death lingering in his hand. Opening the door ever so quietly, he entered the premises. Uncorking the vile, he emptied it onto the floor in the Entrance Hall. The blue liquid sunk into the cobbled floor only to emit through the castle through the vents, eventually finding its way to every student, professor, and headmaster in the school.
Fredrick smiled before saying one last word of accomplishment, “Perfect.”